Legacies of prejudice: racism, co-production and radical trust in the museum

Abstract Museums have been complicit in the construction of physical and cultural hierarchies that underpinned racist thought from the Enlightenment until well into the twentieth century, in marked contrast to the inclusionary role that many now seek to fulfil. In Revealing Histories: Myths about Race (2007–2009) at the Manchester Museum, UK, a team from within and beyond the museum tried to address this uncomfortable history. They faced challenges and raised many questions: how to present such material honestly but sensitively? Could other voices be included without jeopardising the credibility of the museum? How can post-colonial arguments be made with a collection based on the spoils of empire? And, finally, how are museums to escape the legacies of prejudice? Although well intentioned, the actions of museum staff in realising the project – the authors included – exhibited unanticipated vestiges of institutional racism. Drawing on race and international development studies, this paper concludes that a more radical trust may be called for if UK museums are genuinely to collaborate with other groups on projects like this; to become spaces for democratic exchange, and to face up to their legacies of prejudice. Keywords: co-productiondemocratic exchangesocial responsibilityManchester Museumparticipationracismradical trustslavery Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank three anonymous reviewers and the discussants on earlier versions of this paper delivered at the University Museums and Collections (UMAC) conference, Manchester; the University of Leicester Museum Studies Department; and the Museums Association conference, Liverpool. Kostas Arvanitis, Fay Bound Alberti and Sharon Macdonald gave insightful advice on the text and argument. We are especially grateful to all the participants in the Myths about Race project – but it is important to note that the arguments presented here are our own, and represent the views of neither the content team nor the Manchester Museum. Sam Alberti benefited from Wellcome Trust funding while writing this paper. Notes 1. Revealing Histories Space Content Team Meeting Minutes (held in the Manchester Museum Central Archive, hereafter 'RHS'), 22 November 2006, p. 4. 2. See www.direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/DG_065915 and www.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated. 3. As reported by Sue McAlpine, Hackney Museum, at the UK Museums Association conference discussion, 'Can Museums Really Co-Create Everything With the Public?', 7 October 2008, Liverpool. 4. All quotes from individuals are either from minutes of the exhibition project meetings or transcripts from recorded (filmed) public forum events that formed part of the project. They are, therefore, part of the public record held by the Manchester Museum. 5. These positions are for 2 years, half time with a museum (or museums) and half-time training provided by an accredited museum studies programme, in this case provided by the Centre for Museology at the University of the Manchester. Once appointed, holders of Diversify traineeships are only identified as trainees, with no reference to the nature of the funding. We only mention it here because of its obvious relevance to the topic at hand. The association describes the bursaries thus: 'People from ethnic minorities are underrepresented in the museum and gallery workforce. The Museums Association Diversify scheme offers training opportunities to prepare people of African, Caribbean, Asian or Chinese descent for work in UK museums and galleries'. See www.museumsassociation.org/diversify. 6. RHS, 22 November 2006, p. 2. 7. RHS, 14 December 2006, p. 1. 8. The final terse minute regarding this debate read 'The creator of the timeline to be informed that we are using it'. Myths about Race Meeting Minutes (held in the Manchester Museum Central Archive, hereafter 'MAR'), 17 July 2007, p. 1. 9. RHS, 9 March 2007, p. 1. This title was chosen over 'Talking about Race' because of the importance of challenging racists notions, and in spite of reservations about the anachronism of labelling historical scientific ideas, however unpalatable, as 'myths'. 10. RHS, 9 March 2007, p. 1; see MAR, 8 June–8 August 2007. 11. RHS, 10 January 2007. In June 2009 the exhibition was taken down, and the space was converted into an introduction to Darwinism and the zoology galleries. The old and new topics have considerable overlap – see for example Desmond and Moore (Citation2009) and Scott (2007). 12. RHS, 14 December 2006. 13. Revealing Histories: Myths about Race information pack, Manchester Museum Exhibition Archive, p. 2, 8. 14. Myths about Race evaluation workshop notes, 15 January 2008, ed. Nadine Andrews, Manchester Museum Exhibition Archive. 15. 'Are Museums Racist?', 4 October 2007, AV recording, Manchester Museum, available at www.revealinghistories.org.uk/are-museums-and-galleries-racist (hereafter 'AMR'). 16. AMR. 17. Revealing Histories: Myths about Race 'Tell us what you think' cards, September 2007, Manchester Museum Exhibition Archive. 18. AMR. 19. AMR. 20. In the AMR recoding, for example.